Rajesh in Dubai: Pa cooks an Arabic Breakfast

Click photos to Enlarge.

Foul madammas is the traditional arabic peasant's meal.  Meant to fill you up and keep you going for the day.  I woke up with a craving for it and my father seemingly had the exact same craving so he decided to whip it up.  He did warn me that it'll be like "cement in your stomach, you won't eat for the rest of the day"  he was right, this is good cheap desert fuel.  We popped over to the lebanese supermarket to get the needed components.

Foul is Fava Beans, sauteed with green chilly, garlic, lemon and tomato.  Once cooked it's doused in olive oil.  On the side he made some 'reverse' ( as I like to call it) Coarse hummous, whipped up in about two minutes by mashing chickpeas with tahini, garlic, parsley, salt and lemon.  It's a quick hummous fix.  This was all served with slices of onion, chillies and Nabulsi Cheese  - a great salty cheese from Palestine that makes Halloumi look dumb.

The breakfast was amazing, so hearty and filling, I'll be skipping lunch and dinner.  What made it extra special was the Palestinian Olive Oil that my dad doused the hummous and the Foul in.  It's truly special and he treats it like the rolls royce of olive oil.  It's not a commercial brand, it's from a small farm in Palestine, he had it brought over in big barrels.  It's a lot more deep in flavour and complex than the Italian Olive Oils, you could drink this stuff.

I'm smuggling that shit into London this weekend in a cola bottle.

xxx

Rajesh

PS:  My dad said the best Foul he had was in a tiny little joint down a backstreet in Jordan, I keep trying to get him to blog his Jordan trip but he's too lazy.

Recipe from Home #2: Mustard Salmon

Do you like the little drawing I made?  I do!  This recipe arrived from home without a picture, but I'll update it with one once I've given it a spin in the Tastebud Test Kitchen.

Ingredients:

• Fresh Salmon Fillet
• Handful of Mustard Seeds (Rye) 
• 2 Fresh Green Chillies
• 1 Teaspoon of Colemans Mustard Powder
• Pinch of Turmeric
• Mustard Oil - SHOULD BE INDIAN OR BENGALI BRAND, NO OTHER WILL DO
• 2 Tablespoons of Yoghurt mixed with 2 Tablespoons of Water
• Sea Salt

Grind mustard seeeds in a pestle and mortar (or coffee grinder) with Colemans mustard powder, salt and turmeric and green chilly.  The result should be paste-like, add a little water if necessary.   Add a few drops of mustard oil.

Baste the Salmon in the mixture and leave for 15 minutes.

Place the Salmon in a Steaming Pan.  Pour yoghurt/water mixture over the fish, drizzle with a little more mustard oil.  Steam for 5 to 6 minutes or until cooked but not dry!

Serve with white rice.  Eat with your hands.

Enjoy!

Recipe from Home #1: Ma & Pa's Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg small red tomatoes
• Fresh Thyme leaves or Basil (My Dad's preferred addition)
• 4 Fresh Garlic Cloves, crushed with the back of a knife
• 2 Tablespoons Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon Palm Sugar or Cane Sugar 
• 1 Tablespoon Kalongi or Nigella Seeds
• 2 fresh green chilis, slit.
• Sea Salt

Cut tomatoes into fours.  Heat oil in frying pan, sputter kalongi, add green chillies and garlic.

Add tomatoes and braise slowly with a lid on for 5 minutes.  Ad palm sugar and salt, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes, until stewed.  Remove from flame.

Once that's done mix in the 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar.

Garnish with Thyme or Basil and,

Enjoy!

(Thank to Ma & Pa for the Pictures and recipes, more to come...)